All indications are that for Zanu PF it is business as usual as Zimbabwe goes into elect ions on 29 March. It is the same old story. True to the script, the Police Commissioner-General, Augustine Chihuri has allegedly come out and instructed the police to back Mugabe’s candidature; the head of Prisons, Paradzayi Zimondi, issued a similar command to prison officers. Stories of routine harassment of students, WOZA, NCA and MDC activists abound. Simba Makoni has also tested the full measure of Zanu PF’s intolerance as he is receiving only negative coverage from state media and has had his rallies disrupted by the police. The Herald continues, true to form, to denigrate and vilify all opposition while glorifying Zanu PF mediocrity.

Nothing has changed in terms of the laws or the attitudes of people running state institutions to warrant a different expectation come 29 March. Therefore, barring a miracle of biblical proportions, the result of the 29 March will simply be a repeat of the past elections of 2000, 2002 and 2005. For this reason l feel that we must begin to think outside the ballot box and critically consider other viable options. When the election was stolen in 2002 plan B was to challenge the electoral fraud before the courts. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, our severely compromised judiciary dilly-dallied in handling the cases and effectively rendered any remedy of no use or effect. After 29 March elections, going to the courts is not a viable option – considering past experiences and a knowledge that a significant portion of the judiciary has directly benefited from the patronage of the state and has lost the last shred of impartiality.

A viable back up plan in the (very likely) event of electoral fraud is to ensure, within legal and constitutional means, that Zimbabwe is rendered ungovernable. We must be ready to defend and reclaim the vote by way of a mass presence on the streets of Zimbabwe. For this to work, the police and army, who are suffering just as much under the current government, must desist from using heavy-handed methods on the people. My appeal to the army and police is that, when the order to shoot at the people is given, they must simply refuse to obey such a command, so that electoral fraud can effectively be challenged without turning Zimbabwe into a Kenya scenario. An appeal to the international community would be that, unlike its intervention in Kenya which occurred only after more than 1000 lives had been lost, their involvement in Zimbabwe should occur as soon as it becomes apparent that electoral fraud has taken place.

This entry was posted on March 5th, 2008 at 11:50 am by Dewa Mavhinga and is filed under Elections 2008, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.